ABC NewsRadio
ABC NewsRadio is an Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio service devoted to delivering live & 24-hour news updates & information. The service is available on a number of broadcasts right around Australia, including AM/FM radio, some pay-TV platforms & online via the Internet. Originally called the Parliamentary & News Network (PNN), the AM/FM radio network is chartered to broadcast live the proceedings of parliament, either the House of Representatives or the Senate, as specified by the standing orders. Also broadcast @ the end of each day's sitting, is a recording of Question Time for the chamber that was not broadcast live that day. These restrictions do not apply to the other broadcasts of Newsradio, or to new rural & regional transmitters in 2006 (see below). Parliamentary broadcasting was commenced by Ben Chifley's government on 10 July 1946 on ABC Radio. These broadcasts received their own frequencies in the 1980s as PNN. The PNN/ABC NewsRadio service was introduced in August 1994, to utilise the Parliamentary broadcasting frequencies which were not being used when Parliament was not in session. ABC NewsRadio has a 24-hour news format, including extensive finance, science & IT reports, as well as extended reports from the ABC's local & international news sources. NewsRadio also rebroadcasts international programming from the BBC, DW-Radio, Radio Netherlands & All Things Considered from NPR. On AM & FM radio, NewsRadio also broadcasts Australian Football League matches on weekends in New South Wales & Queensland, where the National Rugby League is the more popular football competition & thus is broadcast on ABC Local Radio services in those 2 states. ABC NewsRadio callsigns for stations on the AM radio band are always xPB, where x'' is the number denoting the particular state or territory & ''PB stands for Parliamentary Broadcasting. ABC NewsRadio stations on the FM radio band use callsigns of the format xPNN. ABC NewsRadio also uses resources from around the world such as news bulletins & programs from the BBC. From September 2001, live audio streaming of the 24-hour news format was extended so that when Parliament is in session, listeners who have Internet access may still receive the NewsRadio service even when the NewsRadio network is broadcasting Parliamentary proceedings over the air. From 2004, this was extended to digital satellite. In 2005, it was announced that up to 70 new NewsRadio stations would be rolled out across rural & regional areas of Australia. This roll out is scheduled to commence in 2006 & is expected to take 3 years. This expansion of ABC NewsRadio services will raise the percentage of the Australian population who can receive the NewsRadio signal from 78% to an expected 95%. Frequencies The following carry parliamentary services, including Question Time, when parliament is in session Australian Football League broadcasts may also interrupt news coverage *Adelaide - 972 kHz AM *Brisbane - 936 kHz AM *Burnie/Wynyard - 90.5 MHz FM *Cairns - 101.1 MHz FM *Cairns North - 96.3 MHz FM *Canberra - 103.9 MHz FM *Darwin - 102.5 MHz FM *Gold Coast - 95.7 MHz FM *Gosford - 98.1 MHz FM *Goulburn - 99.9 MHz FM *Hobart - 747 kHz AM *Latrobe Valley - 95.1 MHz FM *Launceston - 92.5 MHz FM *Mackay - 104.3 MHz FM *Melbourne - 1026 kHz AM *Newcastle - 1458 kHz AM *Richmond/Tweed - 98.5 MHz FM *Rockhampton - 105.5 MHz FM *Perth - 585 kHz AM *Port Stephens - 95.1 MHz FM *Sydney - 630 kHz AM *South West Slopes - 91.5 MHz FM *Tuggeranong - 99.9 MHz FM *Wagga Wagga - 105.1 MHz FM *Upper Hunter, New South Wales (Scone, Muswellbrook, Aberdeen, Singleton & surrounds) - 104.9 MHz FM Other broadcasts The following carry 24-hour news coverage, without parliamentary or sport interruption *Webcast (except during Olympics Games periods) - Listen Live to ABC NewsRadio *Free digital radio (Melbourne only) - ABC Digital Radio *Free satellite radio - ABC Self-Help Satellite *Pay-TV cable or satellite radio (Foxtel & Austar) - TV ch. 875 / radio ch. 43 Free digital TV may also commence in future - radio ch. 204 Podcasts of regularly recorded segments are also available @ NewsRadio Podcasts External links * ABC NewsRadio's Website